Observations focused on the problems of an underdeveloped country, Venezuela, with some serendipity about the world (orchids, techs, science, investments, politics) at large. A famous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, referred to oil as the devil's excrement. For countries, easy wealth appears indeed to be the sure path to failure. Venezuela might be a clear example of that.

Chavez just tried to patch up the mess created by his absence, correcting the diagnoses over which many members of his Government and himself had lied, but failing to explain the details of what really ails the President. What ails him was diagnosed and present before he went to Cuba and it may be worse than anyone thought, based on the way he looks and his suggestion that there is still malignancy around. He was clearly down, talked about the “abyss” more than once and while he called for unity among his collaborators, there were no revolutionary slogans

The uncertainty now, besides the exact nature of Chavez’ cancer, is what type of prognosis he has. For the country an orderly electoral transition is the best option. If Chavez’ ailment is more severe than we thought until a few hours ago, Venezuela may be facing a tough road ahead.

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[…] surgical intervention. By accounts, Chavez urgent surgery in Havana Cuba for a pelvic abscess. Turns out there is much more here than a pelvic abscess. A very thin and clearly gravelly ill Hugo Chavez finally addressed the Nation tonight from […]

Having gotten to know you some, I would venture to say that you have a very attractive personality but not a charismatic one.You love to give to others, and are not selfish at all.More than likely you have a great deal of inner strength.

You flatter me… cuz I think I’m a bit selfish. But I guess you;re right… I’ll die poor! I love to give away things. Working on the strength thou 😀

Seriously now: this charisma subject is very interesting. This is one the reasons ‘bad’ boys/girls are so popular in school. Same thing applies from childhood to grown-ups.

And I’m pretty sure that it takes a needy, not necessarily flawed, human being to fall in the trap of a ‘charismatic’ leader. Any leader. From kindergarten to adulthood. I know so many people that fell into the enchantment of chávez, because they were in a rough spot in their lives.

Island, i can push for someone at PJ’s top to read it, at least to browse through it…don’t know if they will do something, but that is one of the best chances. I can send you his email so that you write directly.

Yeah Kepler true.Most voters will be fooled by charisma.They might not even agree with Chavez but his charisma is stronger than they are.

I think a lot of this happens on an unconscious level.People just feel mysteriously drawn in. ” Oh he is so simpatico, or powerful or whatever”.

A good leader has to have the power of uniting others through recognizing the strengths and talents of the other.
A good team leader always appreciates and understands the greatness of the others on the team and sees their unique talents.A true leader allows for others to lead as well.Their talent is in unification.

If a strong charismatic leader appears, they will probably get the votes( unfortunately)

But….A charismatic leader will be more reluctant to share the limelight.

Some degree of charisma might not hurt ,but not when it becomes the main factor.

Syd,

I think most people are drawn somewhat to charisma, but if we are more mature we can make decisions based on more objective ideas, like Kepler was saying above.

I have heard people say that despite Ledezma’s good record they wouldn’t vote for him because he is dull ( totally lacking in charisma).Others dislike Borges for lack of ” charm”

Sometimes even somewhat mature people get hooked, if the charisma is strong enough.But generally speaking the more hooked we get, the more we are suffering from narcissism by proxy.Although I must say that when Chavez first appeared many people listening to his message of hope, democracy and elimination of corruption, were temporarily convinced, not just because of the message but also because of his charisma.After he started governing people began to see through him and were no longer under the spell of his charisma.

There are different degrees of vulnerability to it.Everyone has some narcissism, but in different degrees….it is always a matter of proportion.

It occurs to me that right here on this blog we have an amazing group of talented, educated, creative people, none of whom are crooks, none of whom are power hungry, and most of whom, I believe, want only the best for Venezuela and its people.

Could the MUD or the chavistas gather together a group like this? Perhaps, but they would never do so, because they are mostly power-hungry crooks who have only their own gain in mind.

So I suggest we not waste this opportunity to tap into experience, wisdom, and ideas.

I think that a workable government, in order to be elected and then be effective, should appeal to all classes of Venezuelan society: A very broad-based populism that holds out hope of peace, freedom, abundance, and opportunity for all, and do that without relying on taking from others what they already have.

It’s occurred to me also, however, the talents here are mostly duplicated. Let me explain, as I’ve probably used the wrong term. Every team needs its coaches, but in the end, it’s the players who execute strategy, technique, etc… We here are basically ‘coaches’. What we need are players – people do go out and actually do the work.

And the type of leader that is called for is the one leading that work, HANDS ON. I don’t mean just visiting the barrios, I mean actually doing the work, you know, getting his hands dirty. This is the leader to follow. And through a period of time (5, 10 years), you’ll come to reap a harvest of thinkers. And that is when Chavismo (Rojo rojito) will finally be dead. Not with Chavez’s passing (wish him Godspeed), but with changed minds.

Firepigette,
Thanks. Perhaps the word charismatic is not what I meant. As I said: we need to build up a team (and I prefer that word more than a leader) who is supported by the vast majority. Is there something that has prevented us from that or it is just the “unreadiness” of the others?
Mind: I disliked very much Rosales and I have the hunch he was/is a crook, but less shameless than Chávez. I did not find him charismatic at all. I made my calculation and I thought he would be much better than Chávez, so I voted for him.
But that is me. I do those calculations. Most Venezuelan voters don’t act like that.

You’re right, there is a need to build a team and get busy with the real work at hand – not getting rid of Chavez (per se), but EDUCATING el pueblo. Of course, I written the same thing numerous times on Miguel’s blog over the years, but it turns out, very few people want to actually get their hands dirty and do the hard work.

For a while recently, it looked like the student’s understood part of what this meant (sacrifice), but I don’t know what’s become of them.

There is another form of charisma, that of the true visionary, who is not needy and doesn’t feed on the energy of others, but rather energizes them with the power and promise of his dream.

In the case of such a visionary, it becomes possible for the dream to become more important than the one who shares and promotes it, and for the vision to last long after the visionary has left the scene.

Why is Chávez charismatic? Why isn’t there a more charismatic person out there? (I know how relative charismatic is, we know how charismatic Stalin or Hitler were) What does it take to be charismatic without imitating that guy?

Dr. Fausto may have a point if Jaua is the type that given the possibility of staying HIMSELF in power, accepts nominating Adan in order to later step down for Adan to be President. Personally, I do not think that he will do it.

IMHO, Chavez will come back and nominate another vicepresident.

The situation now is pretty bad. Chávez’s illness is no good news for the country. The alternatives within the chavismo are worse than Chavez himself: all the possible candidates are more extremist than Chavez. On the opposition part, I think that they do not know how to face the situation: they have concentrated too much on being anti-Chavez that they have forgotten how to react if Chavez is not there.

What is happening is one of the worst scenarios for Venezuela. We are facing the unknown. Anything is possible now: no elections, a hard left-wing dictatorship, a right-wing one.

better to happen now than 6 months before the elections … if we have them. Changing direction will take a little while, but it is not impossible to change course (mentality), in the face of new prevailing winds. Or so I think.

On the contrary, were Chavez not ill, we would be facing a still somewhat popular caudillo, going ahead with the “Revolution” and with chavismo’s bid for totalitarian power.

They are extremists, but they are also only there because Chavez chose them. Because they are extremely good at brown-nosing and at telling Chavez what he wants to hear. With the possible exception of Aristobulo Isturiz, the chavistas that could inherit Chavez’s mantle because they had charisma and their own support have been displaced, even by Chavez himself.

The situation now offers the only easy way out for Venezuela. Easy in that it will not involve that many deaths.

A friend sent me that when it came out and I about gagged. I told my friend it was probably the biggest collection of lies, omissions, and distortions I had ever seen presented as history.

Expect the same from Stephen Lendman soon, then most likely John Pilger. Even “el pueblo unido” above will get the message soon enough.

The gatekeepers are not happy with Hugo for selling out the glorious people’s revolutionary armies. Wonder what level of radioactivity one might find if one checked the cushions in his favorite chairs at Miraflores? Classic way to induce cancer.

I remember when you gusanos used to be so paranoid that you were going to be ruled from Cuba. Looks like your nightmare is coming true, you *are* now going to be ruled from Cuba, bahahaha. I’m sure HC will come down to Caracas every 90 days or so though, so you won’t be too lonely.

I think HC will win the 2012 election and continue to live for a while. If he doesn’t, he will be fondly remembered by the the working people of Venezuela, although maybe not the lazy Castilian whites who had been living high off oil profits for decades. But I suspect HC will be with us for many years to come. Chávez es el Pueblo!

He will return to die. One of the most powerful men in the world failed to get regular screening despite his well known paranoias wearing body armour in NY or having personal chef. He certainly thought he was invincible. He will die a slow excruciating death. The pain killers will not bring him peace. What a great ending…I always figured stroke or cardiac arrest but colorectal cancer up there too. No brainer this guy was high risk including genetically.

Just look at the statistics for diabetics…what do they really mean for anyone? diddly squat!

They say diabetes has increased exponentially but don’t mention that we now diagnose it with a fasting blood sugar of over 130 instead of 200, or that the Hispanic population has vastly increased with their high levels of diabetes, etc etc….these statistics are used to manipulate and prove points.There is a lot more to do with it than diet!

Part of the increasing cures for Cancer is the early diagnosis…back when most people did not know they had Cancer so often folks died of other things.It is said that we often get small cancers that cure themselves and we don’t even know it.

Whether or not a person will die is not something for us to know.We might intuit something and come closer to it than with statistics-But that kind of knowledge is not open to us.

Statistics from mainstream medicine are about as reliable as government reports on government accomplishments, or corporate propaganda on their own environmental responsibility.

Lowering the diagnosis level for diabetes serves the valuable purpose of increasing the income of MDs and pharmaceutical companies. Fudging the numbers for cancer survival serves about the same purpose.

It’s been my understanding since the 1970s that a person who lives more than five years after any cancer diagnosis is tallied as a “cure” even if they die the next day.

Meaning exactly what? Does this generality average all cancers including minor skin cancers, and mean that if detected and treated early, they are survivable? And what does survivable mean? That greater than 50% are alive in 5 years and 1 day?

‘Fraid I’ve heard that “if only we had caught it earlier” too many times. When Pres Nixon declared “war on cancer” back about 1972, around 1 in
4 Americans were expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. These days it’s 1 in 2. Not a very impressive success record for the billions spent on research.

What is the 5 year “survival” rate for multiple sarcomas?

Keep in mind that being alive isn’t the same thing as being cured or healthy or even close to it.

“When Pres Nixon declared “war on cancer” back about 1972, around 1 in
4 Americans were expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. These days it’s 1 in 2.”

That is not really a fair criticism. The reason for that is the medical community has had so much more success with treating heart disease, and other age-related diseases, that many more people are living long enough to get cancer.

-it all started with his prostate, he had it treated in Caracas but they told him it had to be removed. (this was reportes as the knee part)
-he went to Cuba where he had the prostrate removed, colon was punctured, other tumors discovered
-a second operation was performed to remive part of the colon and tumors, they found metastasis. He has a bag now.

If this is the truth, then it would not live very longer (well, probabilistics aside, he could be the one in 100 who does). Adan in Cuba in a “work session” (not as brother)…
The changing mood in the videos will be medication explained. (But sometimes I think it’s all a show, but then the Bicentenario, CELAC, no!)

I hear you and of course the possibilities are endless. One of the yearly tests for a man over 40 is the dreaded DRE. I can just see super macho invincible HCh telling his doctor “me vas a meter el dedo por donde? Olvidate…!

My point is that Pca, even very advanced, will not put a man down in weeks or even months, who, as in HCh’s case, was functioning rather well until recently. Also, quimo (if indeed that’s the next step) is of no value for treating Pca. It’s sometimes tried on somebody before going to the hospice.

But whatever it is, I am convinced it’s very serious and still life threatening.

I totally agree that if the management of the country is an indication of the management of his health, then he might have brought it on himself. Most cancers are survivable nowadays if detected early.

Re the pictures etc. Most of them have been photoshopped as needed and the only video that “counts” is the last one where he sure doesn’t look good.

Prostate cancer is the most aggressive of all cancers. It kills in mere months–not years. (Just ask Frank Zappa, if he was alive to tell you about it And this was a guy who went to the doctor every 6 months!)

In addition, where did you get the idea that most cancers are curable? In fact, NONE of them are curable. Cancer hasn’t been cured yet.

It can be contained for a temporary period of time, but for certain types–prostate, lung, colon–treatments do nothing. You’re dead in 6 months.

He is looking well and different dressed, I saw a photo ND24 on the same day and he had a crunch at his left side, so still problems with his knee?
End of April he went to Uruguay see a staff of specialists after 18.00 hrs, and handed over a big cheque and did not have a check-up over there?
The last visit in Nicaragua he was not well and showed also. They knew what they had to do at his arrival to Havana.

“President Hugo Chávez, who shocked the nation by revealing that he had a cancerous tumor removed and would “continue battling,” could keep governing Venezuela from his seclusion in Cuba for as long as six months, his vice president said Friday.”

“The statement by the vice president, Elías Jaua, a loyal supporter of Mr. Chávez who has said he has no plans to temporarily replace the president, will almost certainly intensify concerns here over a power vacuum as Mr. Chávez recovers from cancer surgery in a Cuban medical complex.”

“Mr. Jaua emphasized that he fully expected Mr. Chávez to return to Venezuela within 180 days. In his remarks, made in an interview with a Colombian radio station, he made it clear that he and other top officials in Mr. Chávez’s government were relying on an interpretation of the constitution that would allow the president to exercise his duties as head of state from abroad for a three month period, which could then be extended for another three months.”

Article 234 “Temporary Absences shall be filled in by the Vice-President for up to 90 days, extendable by Congress for up to an additional 90 days.

If a temporal absence goes beyond 90 CONSECUTIVE days, then a majority of Congress can declare a permanent absence.”

Key words, consecutive and majority.

All it takes is for Chavez to “interrupt” 90 day stretches as many times as he wants unless he is so sick he couldn’t make that stick. Since PSUV controls a majority, they will rubber stamp whatever they need to to keep him in power.

A permanent absence is declared by a medical committee named by the Supreme Court (hmmm, how many Venezuelan Doctors would be on that one?) If that does come to pass, and since we are more than 4 years into the current period, the VP rules until elections are held and the new Prez takes office.

So let’s hope that Chavez gets well enough to run, not well enough to do so effectively.

I’m waiting for Bocaranda’s explanation of today’s video. Last night the president looked pale, thin, like a zombie from a horror movie… and today he’s energetic and talkative? Something is very off here.

If we go on logic Syd, in the end it’s hard to really know anything.Things can be faked( skin color, energy levels etc) and there can be multiple reasons for certain conditions.Weight loss certainly doesn’t prove Cancer.I stay thin because I am diabetic, others become thin because they are on amphetamines….the speculation is endless when we use our minds.I prefer intuition in these cases.

It seems he was as incompetent and in denial about managing his own health as he was in running the country. Nevertheless, I am recalling from my days living in Venezuela the old refran “bicho malo no se muere.”

Mike, it would be normally so, but it appears Chávez managed his own health like all other issues, he didn’t do the maintenance/care in due time. I hadn’t taught this could be possible, but look at the country…
The pictures in the room could be bevor the first or after the first operation, this could had been a more or less simple catherization. The second operation was a major one.
Of course it could be always be all a lie…

Hugo Chavez will be forced to resign from office within the next 30 to 60 days. The new President will be Jau, …who will appoint Adan as his Vice President. Yup, I’ll betcha. You can follow the rest from there…..

Most of the top figures of chavismo are busy now reaffirming now that Chávez is the leader: “que no le quede duda a nadie, aquí quien manda es Chávez y este gobierno está dirigido por el comandante Chávez” said Rafael Ramírez…

“Sarcoma is a cancer of the connective tissue. The connective tissue includes muscle, bone, fat, nerve, cartilage, blood vessel, and deep skin tissue. Connective tissue is present throughout the body, so sarcoma can occur in any location. Two thirds of sarcomas are located in the extremities (arms or legs). Because it is so rare and it takes multiple forms in multiple locations, sarcoma is difficult to detect, often misdiagnosed and complex to treat.”

If that is what he has, it looks ominous. It sounds terminal. One can now understand why the remaining ‘revolutionaries’ in Venezuela look so downtrodden in front of the microphones. They’re scared

Hopefully, the following, written before Chavez coming out and “admitting” that he has in fact cancer, puts the Pca theory to bed. If it is true that he now starts quimo, he has a much more serious cancer in advanced stage (e.g. colon, pancreas, sarcoma) and will be lucky if he survives it the next few weeks, maybe months.

In spite of all, the country seems to be functioning equally well (or bad), just like when the government was shut down for a few weeks weeks here in the US. Maybe we’d all be better off if government leaves us alone, as much as possible, and “the invisible hand”, a term first coined by Adam Smith, is alive and well.

Does someone feel a little unconformable with Mr. Jaua as VP or is just me?

Really: What future could have these supposedly “projects” or any other matter with this(these) guy(s) in charge…. At least HC “ponía orden en la pea” (this expression means like “managing a bunch of very drunk and misbehaved people when they were making making a gross mess”)……

and what could happen if armed forces note this and feel worried about the their privileges?

I always remember a very harsh principle: “Things can always get worse” (of course, we were already f@#ck)….. I wonder this could be one of these cases….

Miguel: I must say I was very skeptical the first time you wrote about Chavez being sick. I even though it was out of character to write for you what you did unless you knew something specific. You obviously did. Kudos!

Nelson Bocaranda is by far the best reporter in Venezuela, but I think Manuel Isidro Molina deserves a lot of credit for talking about Chavez’ “nasal cancer” in 2010.

In fact, Bocaranda has acknowledged that such cancer existed. Which brings us to…

Chavez lied yesterday. He knew for a long time he had cancer.

The apparent surprise was that 1) it had receded (the cancer came back) or that 2) it methastasized.

Do you really believe that Chavez, did not have medical check ups? Of course he had, in fact, many of those quick visits to Cuba may be just that.

Also, Chavez almost said that Fidel “diagnosed” him. Lie, lie.

Yesterday’s speech was weird in many aspects. For those that have seen cancer patients, his prognosis is not optimistics. His probability of sucess is probably not good as well as his life expectancy.

Oncologists almost alway give their opinion: “you have % probabilities of making it” or “you can probably life more 10 good years”.

Thus, these last few weeks as well as last night’s video show a bad vibe.

My best guess: he had cancer for a while, thought he had it under control (he even laughed at the hypothesis of having cancer), and know the cancer made very aggressive recession, the tumor(s) almost killed him, and now he is desperately trying to fight it back.

Being no doctor, I think that after a successful tumor extraction, the mood is different. Just a little preventive chemo/radio and back to enjoying life.

I used to think that Ch. would frequently go to Cuba because he was nearing the down phases of his mania. But now I wonder if he didn’t go for cancer treatments.

And now I’m going to say something nice about Ch. (a sure sign that he is dying?). From the little I’ve seen, I’d say he’s very good with his daughters, striking the right note between affection and realism. (During their morning reunion, Ch explains to Fidel that the reason his other daughter (s) are not there is because they’re ‘flojas’.)

Mega, we’re in the endgame. It can take a while but it’s over. The gringos will not do anything for they are clueless. However, I have it from very good source that Adan Chavez is a marked man for Adan is Pablo.

I don’t quite agree with your theory that HC will now be “diminished” to some extent for the 2012 campaign. I’m judging from what I saw, precisely, on the video where HC is addressing the nation. Maybe I took the bait (one purpose of this video, it is obvious, is to show that he’s now healing and will come back in full force) and I’m not seeing beyond the 1st impression (after all, as you said, it is not typical on HC to “read a message”, he’d rather improvise with nothing written in front of him). My point is that I wouldn’t count on HC not being able to dedicate as much effort to the 2012 campaign as otherwise he would have should he hadn’t had this illness.

I will try to explain why I think it is prostate cancer here, first the text passages, then an explanation refering to those, then my “analysis” (I’m biologist not physician, with some knowledge over cancer due to familiar reasons)

He had not taken care of his health, he didn’t do the tests that could detect some tumor early. 2

Symptoms would have been detected by surrounding people 4 (1 and the cancellation of aló presidente…)

Some anomaly was detected by examinations (not detectable from the outside for him) 5

Infection risk leads to chirugical intervention, drainage. 6

Some tests were positive for cancer 7 8

New major chirurgical intervention to eliminate the “whole” tumor 8 9

Uncertainty or conviction that metastases has ocurred 9

This, for me it speaks (if the facts are true) for prostate cancer (infection possible for weaks without really making he ill, for colon cancer it would had been devastating I think) (symptoms observable by other people: going every 30 minutes to the toilette) (drainage, I can’t imagine that by colon cancer, but maybe?) (a second intrvention to eliminate the whole tumor, with colon cancer it would had been the first time I think, you see the lesion and take so much as you need out, by prostate you don’t want to take it out -and the surroundings- if you don’t need it)
I think HCh don’t want to say it is prostate cancer too, because of the implications, he would be under chemical castration (at least, see capsular orchietoctomy) if there are metastases suspected.
There is also a possibility, that the knee pain a radiated pain from a bone metastase was (or weak legs, from the same), but it is only a possibility, maybe he had really knee problems.

Looks to me he can have colon cancer. Hard to detect and people with no history only get to know ithey have it once they get a big tumor like this. Too late for treatment. If it is colon cancer he will be done in months.

He is very young to have prostate cancer. Typically diagnosed in the 7th – 8th decade of life. Colon cancer on the other hand is typically diagnosed in someones 50’s-60’s. That is why we recommend screening colonoscopies to begin when you turn 50. This fits much better, I think than prostate. The screening exams Chavez is talking about is screening colo’s and digital rectal exams. Colon ca starts as as a small polyp, generally grows slowly, but when it spreads it typically goes to liver, lungs, brain. I suspect Chavez had a colectomy in Cuba and the reference to persistent cancerous cells likely means lymph node involvement. Life expectancy is dependent on staging. If his disease has mets to liver, lung 5 year mortality greater than 95%

Jaua speech represents what is wrong with this government…most of the message was directed to the pro-government people…only few world for the opposition to describe them as if they have mistreated the information.
A small detail…I think Garces did not raise his hand after the patria, socialismo…

Oh the drama!. What type of cancer? Sounds like colon to me. He should have been kicked before getting cancer. Now he will die and be treated like a martyr. Hopefully no and people will celebrate when he passes to the other dimension.

Still more questions than answers, specially re life expectancy. Even with advanced PCa, he can live years, however, if colon or some other cancers it can be weeks or months only. His dismal looks may just be because of the surgeries, or it may show his state of overall health, if the latter, I’d not give him much time. Also, I believe he didn’t mention any specifics re returning. Not a good sign in terms of health.
So speculations will heat up further and dark clouds are on the horizon for Venezuela. But God please spare us from Jaua cadenas….

Otras formaciones celulares no detectadas hasta entonces: multiple foci
Tumor abscesado con células cancerigenas: Probably it has destroyed the prostate capsule, bad prognostic.
Tratamientos complementarios para combatir los *distintos tipos* de celulas encontradas. This part is not clear to me how about more than one kind of cancerigen cell.
What if the knee pain was actually pain from the bones? He said he regrets for not doing medical examinations on due time. It looks like a prostate cancer in advanced state.
Poor guy, despite of all his “merits” I’m feel sorry for him.

Miguel, thanks for being an example of what an objective blogger should be. And for giving credit where is due. Over at Caracas Chronicles, mocking Bocaranda’s credibility is a favourite pass time, from those who run the blog all the way to the bunch of Toro-sycophants that comment regularly and think they know better.

Bocaranda gave even leads as per the last names of physicians involved. People can say whatever, but the man “está mejor dateado” than many, many people writing and commenting about Venezuela.

It is very difficult to have total proof about what is credible and what is not, so I reserve judgement on this.

I think it is important for us all to use our own intuition, and criteria in making a decision or even an opinion.

I hate it when people criticize sources and credentials because the truth is we know nothing of these things in the end.

It didn’t take much to see that Chavez has Cancer for anyone who has seen
enough of it.

I have known plenty of nurses who know a hell of a lot more about illnesses than doctors, and plenty of lay people who know a hell of a lot more than nurses…in the end it is up to each of us to listen to ALL people and make up our own minds.

I usually disagree with Quico, sometimes I agree with JC…..but that is because I think we see things from different angles.

Sycophants are on all blogs.They are nothing more than people who give up their own authority to the one’ in charge’, and whose credentials they admire 🙂

Sad to see intrafighting and snipping. Boyd, Quico, myself, Daniel and Miguel are the original bloggers. We came, we saw, we kicked ass. I did Venezuela today. Boyd and I ruled the net in 2004 and yes Gustavo Cisneros finance….Boyd turned him down. I took the money to pay for
Adwords and yahoo marketing pre google news. Boyd and I where doing 250k plus unique visitors per month…those where the days. Quico Daniel and Miguel taught me more about my country of birth than anyone And I’m forever grateful To them. Boyd, I love you despite all.

Bocaranda got a few things right, but for now we don’t know if the long, complicated story he wove is correct. In fact, the doctor you ordered me to call, Dr. Ariel Kaufmann, was in the newspaper the other day flat-out saying he had not evaluated Chávez and had nothing to do with this.

Juan, I am just saying that sometimes, you guys are way, way over the top. Especially FT, and his hatred for Bocaranda. Fortunately, you are one very sound and sane voice at CC, and I find myself agreeing with you 95% of the time. However, that pose, that condescending attitude I-have-got-a-PhD-and-have-visited-three-different-countries-therefore-I-am-master-of-the-universe-for-whatever-I-don’t-know-my-atrincalabola-mates-do of CC has got to stop. It does your cause, and your credibility, no good whatsoever. The constant bashing of the past, of AD, of Venezuelan media/journalist, of politicos of old time, etc., is a CHAVISTA attitude, rather than the informed position of people that pretend to know better. For not everything that was done in the past is bad, so blanket condemnation is a form of radicalism.

We’ve been at this for nearly 10 years now. It is about time we started evolving, improving and thinking about ways of helping our country, for real, not just by spouting nonsense online to please an echo chamber of nerds, and affected Johann Hari readers.

As per Kaufman, I heard differently, and don’t think the guy is just going to come out and say “oh yes, I am the doctor, press enquiries to this number please…” For the record, Manuel Isidro Molina, the first one who mentioned cancer and Chavez in the same sentence last year, is my wife’s uncle, and generally a well informed guy. The current Minister of Housing, Ricardo Molina, is also my wife’s uncle. As you all know, there’s very little than can be kept secret in Venezuela, and information leaks within chavismo is common currency…

Dorian, peace to you too, so long as we see eye to eye and comment objectively on who did what.

Suddenly a lot of people from the chavismo are starting to realize that the guy is just a human being like the rest of us, and that there’s no revolution at all without him.

This totally came out of nowhere and fueled by their communicational strategy caught everyone by surprise. I was reading some comments over the Aporrea message board and some are infuriated at the way the Maduro, Jaua, et al. handled the information of the situation.

I don’t know what else to add to this other than the constitution forbids Chávez to name his brother as vice-president: